Roadkill
by Kirrithian
Summary: The 12th Doctor and Clara get a nasty surprise whilst traveling through the time vortex.


"So where now?" Clara asked, leaning against the console head tilted so she could watch the Doctor at work around the other side, his grey hair seeming to curl as if to dive through his furrowed brow. Between them a bright column pulsed up and down with light, the ticking as the time rotor worked above them, flying them through the time vortex. The Tardis was a time machine, and could take them anywhere in time and space, by traveling through the time vortex.

"There is a planet in the Cuthler spiral, about six or seven galaxies out from yours that has the most fantastic auroras- the atmosphere is quite thick to stop the solar radiation from frying the planet below, and the resultant chemical reactions are quite spectacular- Not only that but there are also clouds full of minute algae, that when they bloom you can get all colors of cloud, including some you can't see. Actually I don't think you can, can you? Humans can see infra-red right?"

"No, no we can't."

"Oh, well you'll just have to miss out. The clouds should still pretty spectacular." The Doctor went to flip a switch, exclaiming as his hand crashed into it instead as it stayed unmoving.

"Doctor?" Clara queried, as he thrust his damaged fingers into his mouth scowling as around them the lights dimmed, and slowly, but picking up speed the Tardis started to roll to one side, forcing Clara to cling onto the console to stay on her feet, holding tight as it started to swing back the other way, picking up speed. "What's happening?" She shouted, watching as the Doctor tried hitting various controls, more and more frantically as he got no response. The ship was bucking a rolling more than ever now and Clara almost swinging off a handle with both hands when another lever clicked down, seemingly of its own accord giving them the answer,

"It's not me. She's locked me out." He scrambled for the screen, to at least try and see where they where, and felt the tug of force on his back as the room started to spin, the centripetal force trying to pull them away from the console. Clara hung on, her feet off the floor, arms straining.

"I can't hold on, Doctor!" She screamed, and he made a frantic last attempt to regain control, only to be sent stumbling back onto the outer control bank. Watching time seemed to slow and he zoned out from the cacophony within the Tardis, numerous alarms ringing and merging with the shrieks of the engines and Clara's panicked screams, and focused on a single flashing red light on the display screen, realization dawning as he looked out towards the door.

"Clara, let go." He shouted

"What?!"

"Let go!"

"But..."

"Now!"

Clara looked at the Doctor, his attention focused on the other side of the console. If she let go she would fly across the Tardis, and an uncomfortable landing- at best. She had never quite forgotten how the Tardis hadn't liked her from the very beginning. But, did the Doctor have a plan? What did he know? She couldn't figure out, and uncertainty kept her clinging on. But barely half a second later the choice was taken from her as her fingers slipped and she flew away with a shriek from the console, the Tardis suddenly seeming to spin around her and she crashed into something soft, which turned out to be the Doctor as the Tardis suddenly stopped spinning, sending them crashing to the floor in an entangled bundle in enough time to hear the click as the doors unlocked before something came flying through the doors, rebounding them at great speed off the walls, and itself crashed with a thud into the central console before dropping to the floor in a bundle. Arranging himself apart from Clara, the Doctor checked her over.

"Clara are you alright?"

"I think so, yes, yes I'm fine. Just a little shaken."

"Good, good." He was distracted though, focused instead on the thing on the floor, and turning around Clara quickly saw why. Just peeking out from the brown bundle of cloth was a clearly humanoid hand.

"Oh my God, that's a person!" Clara moved to go closer, but the Doctor held her back.

"Stay back."

"But there's nothing out there, just the time vortex..."

"Look." He nodded toward the glow beginning to emanate from the hand, and he moved to shield Clara as it rushed out in a roar, completely enveloping the form on the ground, making it too bright to look at directly. Silence fell, aside from the once again regular pulsing of the time rotor. The Doctor got to his feet and walked over towards the doors, stopping to look down at the pile of cloth on the floor. "There are cracks, rifts, in time. Sometimes things fall through. But the time, all the energy... likely as not they burn up."

"That was a person!" Clara exclaimed, distraught

"And they were almost lucky enough to survive. Almost. There aren't many Tardis in the time vortex now the time lords are trapped, but we did the best we could. It's a shame." The Doctor stomped over to the doors, the wooden front bowed inwards where it'd been hit, white cracks showing the force of the impact. He pulled them shut, almost popping the middle back into place where there was now a slight gap. Turning to the console the cracks began to recede behind his back.

"Doctor, somebody's died-"

"-died right on my doorstep, disintegrated into nothingness after flying through the time vortex. Clara, I'm sorry you had to see that, but things do die. Think about all the wild animals back on Earth. They live, they breed, they die. You know it happens, but it doesn't bother you because you don't see it 'cause it happens out of sight in the woods, in the fields and the hedgerows, away from your nice clean innocent day to day lives. Roadkill though, you lot always seem to feel sorry for, but it's just because you can see it happening."

"Excuse me, are you calling this roadkill?!"

"You felt the Tardis trying to 'swerve' to catch them before it was too late. But it was too late. Grow up and learn: Death happens." The Doctor turned back to the console, working in silence before breaking it without a glance up "You're leaking."

"It's called crying." Clara choked out, wiping away the tears. "You know that."

"Yes, but you do get all leaky and wet it's rather off putting you know."

"Doctor, you can be such a horrible insensitive Alien person sometimes, and the worst thing is you know how not to be and yet you still choose, you CHOOSE to be like this, and I know you do this. You wanted to know if you were a good person? Well right now, right here you are being the worst possible person I know."

"Now you're angry. Good, I can live with that- at least you're not all leaky anymore."

* * *

So this started out as the beginning of another story I was writing, then forgot about and dropped/ rediscovered and decided to upload this bit of it- something I feel would have happened in the Doctors universe before, but we haven't seen because it's tv for kids.

Regarding Tardis: I know it's an acronym, and in theory should be capitalized, but I personally feel that it reads better as Tardis, in a way having gone the same direction of laser, and yet still being a name. I am curious however to how and why you write Tardis in your works, and would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.


End file.
